Category Archives: sketches

May 21 2012

Where Can I Send My Sketches?


As part of my work for Writers’ Block I run 1-1 mentoring sessions for writers, many of whom are writing sketches. And they all want to know – where can I send them? Sadly, there don’t seem to be many places in the UK that accept unsolicited sketches, but there are one or two opportunities to keep your eye on.

Cofilmic Sketch in the City

What is it? A monthly live showcase of new sketch writing. Currently limited to writers in the North of England. Submit your 3 minute, three character sketch and maybe it’ll get performed.

Will it help my career?

The best of the crop, selected from each night, will be submitted for the COFILMIC Comedy Film Festival live sketchwriting competition on 29th October 2012. A panel of top industry experts (as
well as the audience) will vote for their favourite and the winner will have their sketch made into a short film for the following years competition!

You never know…

Link: Cofilmic Sketch in the City

The Treason Show

What is it? A slick and irreverent satirical topical comedy sketch show, based on the news and current affairs. Written by a team of over 40 writers and performed by a team of multi-talented satirical sketch performers.

Will it help my career? Can’t hurt.

Link: Treason Show Writers Guidelines

Newsrevue

What is it? Newsrevue is a weekly, fast-paced show of hilarious sketches and songs based on absolutely anything in the news—politics, sport, celebrities—from The Lords to Lords, from the Middle East’s Jordan to the Sun’s Jordan.

Will it Help my career?

Over the years, the show has won the Fringe First Award and a Perrier nomination in Edinburgh, won rave reviews from the national press, recorded many TV & radio specials and helped begin the careers of Rory Bremner, Michelle Collins, Josie Lawrence & Bill Bailey.

So… perhaps!

Link: Newsrevue writers page.

Where Else Can I Find Out About Opportunities?

It’s as well to keep an eye out on the BBC Writersroom, in case a show like Newsjack is seeking sketches.

Also the Writing Opportunities section on the British Comedy Guide forums will often flag up interesting stuff.

Basically, though, if you can somehow take control of your own sketches, by joining or starting up a sketch group, doing live shows, making short films, anything that gets your writing off the page and into a form that can be experienced rather than read, you’ll find your own voice much quicker, and you’ll have sketches to show people, which is always a step up from having sketches for people to read.

Do it yourself! Punk rock! Revolution! Seize the means of production! Or write a funny song about how fat John Prescott is for NewsRevue. Whichever you’d prefer.

May 16 2012

Heavy Petting Did Burlesque

Heavy Petting are now the official sketch group of Casa Bellini Burlesque. Here we are shouting at the audience, while the audience sit back imagining that at some point we will be taking our clothes off. Which we don’t do. Thus: humour.

It was a top night, and we’ll be back with our nipples artfully covered at the Peoples’ Theatre in September. Saucy!

Apr 22 2012

Comedy Sketches – A Spotter’s Guide

In which I present a list of different types of comedy sketch, because why not, and also because if you’re writing a sketch, maybe this will help.
(Note: this list is not exhaustive, although it exhausted me.)

INVERSION

Up is down, black is white, dogs and cats living together… Inversion sketches present a character or situation behaving the opposite to what we might expect. For characters, this will often be an inversion of status: a childish judge, an over-emotional nightclub bouncer, a Tory MP with a human heart (satire).

MISDIRECTION / PULL BACK AND REVEAL

Best kept short. An example would be a CSI-type set up, with experts gathered around an unseen “corpse” talking about signs of burning, teeth marks, spatter patterns etc – THEY’RE ONLY LOOKING AT A PIZZA! LOL!

EXAGGERATION

An exaggeration sketch will take a recognisable situation and distort it via exaggeration. Possibly I didn’t need to write that.

DISPLACEMENT

A sketch in which we take a character and put them in a completely inappropriate/unexpected environment. Prince Philip on Pointless, Bear Grylls on a perfume counter (ooh, that’s good, I might use that).

ANACHRONISM

A sketch in which characters/situations shouldn’t be together as they belong in different eras – Henry VIII having to deal with a chugger, or Hitler signing on (don’t do this one). Or Armstrong and Miller’s WW2 Fighter Pilots – the look is one era, the dialogue is another. Random.

THE ESCALATOR

Escalator sketches start off sensible and then ramp up the absurdity until they end up being completely silly/surreal. See Python’s Four Yorkshiremen boasting who had the worst childhood, or the dirty knife sketch.

PARODY

See Scary Movie. Or rather don’t. See French and Saunders’ movie parody sketches, or anything John Culshaw does. Or, again, don’t see those. Let’s avoid parody.

THE LIST / REPETITION SKETCH

Pick a topic, load up wikipedia, you’re away.

I’M WITH STUPID

There’s this normal character, right, and then there’s this not-normal character. And the normal character reacts to the not-normal one. A classic sketch ensues.

REFRAMING

A sketch which relocates an activity. General election in Narnia.

THE WORLD’S WORST

Think of a job or activity. Think of the very worst person who could be doing it. Write that.

X-RAY / HANG A LANTERN SKETCH

Highlighting the absurdity of a character or situation by having the characters point it all out. Can also include “meta sketches” – sketches which are about themselves. Clever.

That’s probably enough taxonomising of comedy for now. But if you can think of any other categories, or better examples than the ones I’ve got, let me know and I’ll see about updating the list.

Dec 30 2011

Three Sketches

I just spent more time than you’d think recording these (ie longer than three minutes). I used all two-and-a-half of my accents and I also wore a different wig, moustache and brassiere for each character. They’re submissions for next year’s Rouch Cuts Podcasts from The Comedy Unit. Will they get in? Will they? Or will they?

Jul 26 2011

Alchemy

Over August I will be writing and performing in Brown Eyed Boy‘s Alchemy sketch show in Edinburgh. The gist is that a bunch of writers/performers/stand ups get together on a Thursday, bringing scripts and ideas. We have a big read-through, vote on the sketches/ideas we like the best, and somehow on the Saturday night we produce a brand-new ninety-minute live sketch show. It’s crazy exhilarating, and so much fun. Basically, it’s the sort of show I’ve dreamed of doing for years. I am a bit chuffed to have lucked into it.

We’ve done it twice already and the shows have been really strong, but next month is when shit gets real ‘cos we’re doing it for a paying audience throughout the fringe. And there’ll be guest presenters each night, and some of them will be off the telly. Telly people! The best kind of people! Susan Calman hosted the last two – she was brilliant and really got involved in the writing process. Her musical version of the life of Rosa Klebb was something to behold.

Fancy coming along? You’ll find details here. Hopefully see you there!

May 29 2011

Heavy Petting

It’s a new sketch group with me, Mark Lund, Tim Marshall and Danielle Boucher. We’ve had two rehearsals and one performance and so far it’s going rather well.

The plan is to do live stuff, then move on to filming sketches, then get on telly, then break America, and then go into space and have adventures. We’re on track!

Anyway, come and see us. We’re bang on trend.

Mar 11 2010

Limmy’s Show

Have you been watching this, from BBC Scotland? I love it. It’s not necessarily hilarious, but it’s warm, distinctive and personal and this clip shows what shading of depth, meaning and chuckleage can be achieved within a simple three minute desk sketch.

“I don’t wanna be here any more.” Sweet.